On the very same day that the UNESCO World Heritage Committee voted on a ludicrous resolution which denies Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, a papyrus was found from the time of the First Temple mentioning Jerusalem.
On Wednesday, within hours of each other, these two news items were all over Israeli media.
As reported in Times of Israel:
The resolution, which accuses Israel of various violations, echoed last week’s decision in referring to the Temple Mount compound solely by its Muslim names, “Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif,” and defined it only as “a Muslim holy site of worship.” As the site of the two Biblical temples, the mount is the holiest place in Judaism. But unlike last week’s resolution, the draft did not mention the importance of Jerusalem’s Old City for “the three monotheistic religions.”
The resolution was subsequently passed by a large majority:
UNESCO World Heritage Com. votes in secret ballot 10-2, with 8 abstentions on anti-Israel resolution. Better for Israel than roll call vote.
— Herb Keinon (@HerbKeinon) October 26, 2016
Following the vote, Israel’s ambassador to UNESCO, Carmel Shama-Hacohen told the committee that there was only one place that was appropriate to put the resolution – in the trash can of history:
WATCH@israelinunesco puts the UNESCO resolution in exactly the right place….the bin!! pic.twitter.com/KDY4MGj8hJ
— SussexFriendsIsrael (@SussexFriends) October 26, 2016
Meanwhile, the Israel Antiquities Authority sent out a press release with the finding of a papyrus with the oldest known mention of Jerusalem outside of the Bible – dating from the time of the First Temple, 2700 years ago.
Hey UNESCO,an ancient papyrus dating to the 1st Temple 2700 yrs ago has been found. It bears the oldest known mention of Jerusalem in Hebrew pic.twitter.com/eBlEaDPjzC
— Ofir Gendelman (@ofirgendelman) October 26, 2016
Most of the letters are clearly legible, and the proposed reading of the text appears as follows:
[מא]מת. המלך. מנערתה. נבלים. יין. ירשלמה.
[me-a]mat. ha-melekh. me-Na’artah. nevelim. yi’in. Yerushalima.
From the king’s maidservant, from Na’arat, jars of wine, to Jerusalem
This is a rare and original shipping document from the time of the First Temple, indicating the payment of taxes or transfer of goods to storehouses in Jerusalem, the capital city of the kingdom at this time. The document specifies the status of the sender of the shipment (the king’s maidservant), the name of the settlement from which the shipment was dispatched (Na’arat), the contents of the vessels (wine), their number or amount (jars) and their destination (Jerusalem). Na’artah, which is mentioned in the text, is the same Na’arat that is referred to in the description of the border between Ephraim and Benjamin in Joshua 16:7: “And it went down from Janohah to Ataroth, and to Na’arat, and came to Jericho, and went out at Jordan”.
[From the IAA press release]
The papyrus was recovered from thieves who stole the artifact from the Judean Desert, and is an extremely important item which, as Minister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev said, makes the UNESCO resolutions simply laughable:
“The discovery of the papyrus on which the name of our capital Jerusalem is written is further tangible evidence that Jerusalem was and will remain the eternal capital of the Jewish people… The Temple Mount, the very heart of Jerusalem and Israel, will remain the holiest place for the Jewish people, even if UNESCO ratifies the false and unfortunate decision another ten times”.
Watch the amazing discovery in the video below:
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